Reboot

Now that we are back together and starting to peep our heads out and feel somewhat normal, it may be time to reboot the old blog and get back on track.

No, our adventures will not be including any self-drive safari pics of lions or elephants but that does not mean it will be boring.  We hope to develop a bit of a mandate or vision soon and will be sharing via this blog once more.  Food will likely feature. As will fun activities.  I guess miscellaneous comes to mind...



 

Filling the Gap...

Hi there. René here.

Well, I guess the biggest news is that I am now an official resident of the USA! Still an "alien" but as long as we can go to sleep each night and know that there is no looming departure for either of us (something we always dreaded) then I can be called whatever.

Picking up from the last post, the abbreviated timeline until now is something like this:

February 2012

RB working in Calgary, AB comes to visit. They go xc-skiing in Lake Louise. Beauty

April 2012

RB visits AB in Ann Arbor for 2 weeks. AB finishes year 1 of grad school (Yeah!!) and travels back to Calgary with RB for much needed relaxation.

May  2012

RB goes to Montreal for immigration interview.  It takes about 20 minutes and he is approved (Yeah!!).  AB returns to Ann Arbor to start summer work/research.

June 2012

RB leaves job in Calgary. AB flies to Calgary to help with move across country, with slight (2000 km) detour out to Vancouver Island.

The drive:

Calgary, AB -Vancouver, BC - Blaine, WA (processed into USA) - Spokane, WA - Glendive, MT - Minneapolis, MN - Pleasant Prairie, WI - Ann Arbor, MI

Approximately 5 000 km (3125 mi) traveled in 10 days; however, most of the cross country drive was done in 3 solid days of driving. 

July 2012

RB/AB (re)settled in Ann Arbor!!

Update on our lives...

Immigration.

Immigration is no fun. And being involved in an immigration proceeding with the U.S. Government makes me realize just how inefficient the U.S. Government actually is.

René left the U.S. shortly after our wedding because he is Canadian and Canadians, by law, can only stay in the U.S. for six months per year. We filed an I-130, Immigration Petition for Relative, Fiancee, or Orphan.

This is an excerpt from the USCIS website regarding the I-130:

"During this step, USICS initiates the background checks of the applicant/petitioner and identifies issues that may need to be addressed either during an interview or by asking the applicant/petitioner to submit additional information or documentation. USCIS reviews the applicant's/petitioner's criminal history, determines if there are national security concerns that need to be addressed, and reviews the application/petition for fraud indicators."

We thought it would take 3 months, possibly 4, for our I-130 to be processed and approved. After all, we have a very straightforward case. We did not meet online, we did met in person before we got married, neither of us has been married before, and René is Canadian! However, today marks the 167th day that we have been waiting for someone to touch our application. That is 5 months and 14 days! (We can actually track, via the USCIS website, whether or not our application has been touched.) This is very frustrating to say the least. In addition to this first step, there are two steps we have to complete after this before René can live with me in the U.S. The application has to be sent to the National Visa Center (where we again wait for someone to touch it) and then onto the U.S. Consulate in Montreal, where we are hopeful that our role in the application process will be more involved. Up to this point we have not been able to anything but wait. I have now called USCIS six times. The first time the woman told me it would be two months or more before we had word on our application. The second time the man told me I could file a "service request" (presumably to see what is going on with our application) in 68 days. Today a woman told me that they are currently processing applications from July 12, 2011 (our application date is August 23rd).

In the meantime, I am in school in Ann Arbor, and René is in Canada. The only way he can visit the U.S. is if he proves that he will leave. One of the ways he can do this is by bringing a lease for an apartment in Canada to show the border guard when he crosses. He can also bring a letter from his employer that states he is due back at work on a specific date.

So, we are waiting. Waiting and skyping, just like old times! I have said to several people that because of USCIS the only time in my life I have ever lived alone is after I got married.

My winter break is February 24th, and I have already booked my flight to Canada. René and I are counting down the days until then (18)!

In happier news: Today is my mom's birthday! Happy Birthday to my wonderful, beautiful Momma!!

Our Newest Adventure: Marriage!!

June 4, 2011

We had an amazing wedding day, made even better by all of our lovely family and friends who were with us to support us! The weather was perfect, the food was super tasty, the venue was beautiful, the speeches were touching, and the band was amazing! What a great night! Most of all I got to marry my best friend. It was absolutely the best day of my life! Thank you to everyone who was there with us. It meant a lot to us for all of you to come from far and wide to be with us during the moment of our greatest joy!

Credit where credit is due!

Well, it took me a little while (slight understatement) but I am finally going to contribute a few words...

I am sure that everyone will agree that Ashley has done an absolutely amazing job of capturing "the Adventures of Ashley and René" in words and images. The depth of content and amazing story telling is all a credit to her imagination and commitment to keeping this blog going. I mean, if you were to simply print the 49 posts (!!) you would have a best selling travel book! We will always remember our experiences in Namibia and are so glad that you, our friends and family, could look in from time to time.

So thank you Ashley, from all of us.

From Windhoek to Oshakati, dik-diks to elephants and sunshine to floods, I love that we have had this experience together.

In the airport, smiling before the trip...



In the airport, smiling after the trip...

The same big grins!!

Finally, our trip to Sossusvlei

We are home! It's been really busy since we got back, so I haven't had time to post the promised pictures of Sossusvlei. I had a really hard time picking out a few pictures, since the are seriously all amazing shots. Sometime we'll have to give a slide show with all the pictures from this trip, because they are definitely slide show worthy. Here are a few of our favorites including a rain storm in the desert, a walk through Sesriem Canyon, and our fantastic day climbing the dunes in the sunshine. The last picture is our roof-top tent!

We're coming home tomorrow!!

Tomorrow we begin our 30+ hour journey back to the States. But first, a preview of our AMAZING trip to Sossusvlei.